The Wilmingtonian., 1887-05-21
A...-., ns,h.As .s arar.ripr Time.

No wonder the nneients didn't get along b
he world as well "a the people Of to-day
shey lost too much time. And the reason
hsy lost tin,s was because Of their Imperfect
ways Of measuring it. They had to depend
en- the sun dial for the most part A sun
iial might be very useful when there was any
sin, but it was entirely useless on cloudy daya
sn1 during the night. In the latter case the
truant husband inclined to hang out late
srofited much. 1t might be two O'Clock in
he morning when he <rspt in, Int he could
swear il was only TO- and his poor wife had
TO way OF proving that he was lying. 1t re-
moves much Of the bitterness Of lie When
you can't prove it ON a fellow.
Tbs Greeks and Romans, OF whom we havs
o.seasion to speak occasionally, although this
h not strictly classical journal, had an i'm
provement on the sun dial, which they could
resort to when the sun dial was on a strike
Tor sight hours as s days work. 1t was q
large jar filed with water, and hole was
made in the bottom through which the water
sould Escape. Ths flow of the water told OF
she hours Il was called the clepsydra, which
means AThe water steals away"
Sometimes an old Roman who had been
shrinking good many Roman punches before
raing to bed would wake Mp in the silent
parched with thirst. No other liquid being
handy he would drink the contents Of hs
slsptydra. That stopped the clock, Of course,
and he would sverlsstingly lie abed waiting
tor morning 70 come. He would never miss
che water till the clepsyhra was dry.
King Alfred burned candles to tell the
time by, each candle lasting two hours A
soksn candles would make one day, though
h. got little confused when the grocer, in
order to hold the royal patronage and adves-
ase himself az the special candle maker for
the king, gave him thirteen for dozen.
There are few kings since Alfred's time
who could make noto Of time III that manner,
because % many of them were in the habit OF
Burning their csr.sieS at both ends s-Texss
Nfsng
The Power of the Washington Hand Press.
A large man with a moustacbe broDdine
over his mouth like some great national sor
row visited Ths Bell Office this week HI
was travelling for an eastern house whicl
makes a speciality OF printing materials ans
sight drafts He tried to sell us a large pres
with wheels On it, and strongly made am
binding chattel mortgage attachment
He spoke very highly OF this latter featnr
aud said their mortgages were never know
to break. He said the mortgages they wer
now putting in for printers in the northweS
were alike satisfactory 10 themselves and tn
sheriff. He also spoke incidentally Of th
press itself. and we gathered that II was to b
set up and fed with white paper, which woul
come out nicely printed with tariff editorial
and original clippings We judged tina
either a Democratic or Republican pres
could be ordered and that there would be n
extra charge for an attachment to run in a
original poem.
Our next impulse was 10 seize a pen an
uribe out a check sufficiently able bodied
cover the cost of recording the mortgage
Turning. we caught reproachful glanc
from the dark, caEt-irOn countenance OF tn
old Washington hand press az desisteC
Part Of the desiSt was caused by not bein
able to call 10 mind the address Of any ban
which had ever put III sealed proposals Is
handling our checks
To turn the matter OF we asked the mn,
IL he had a sample press with him. He sal
he had not Then we said that we did NJ
believe that his house would start him ol
on the road without one and that il was o,
opinion he had pawned il. He seemed ae
tated, aud after leaving bill for some tyl
we ordered OF his firm last week he we
out
When the press peadler had formally p
on his injured look and jumped the Office,
turned TO the old hand press with a sigh
relief After all, that style Of press seems
give the greatest satisfaction. No one c
writs intelligently Of the power Of t
press who has not pulled it. 1t seei
70 have early in life ordered
large consignment Of choice, sprin
power, and to still have most of it on har
II is all used in holding back. The man W
said the press was the greatest power in t
world had pulled the Washington ha
variety, Some people may think that Wa
ington should have kept right on rrossi
the Delaware and freezing TO death at Val
Forge, instead of stopping 10 invent a bal
printing press
All this will 20 TO explain why we still WI
of the paper on the stationary press, WI
we might have one which would be ann
competent 70 get up on the editorial triI
and put Its feet on the table. Some peo
may prefer TO have press sitting aror
the office blowing about having more bra
than the editor, hut we do not long for
Give MS, rather, the simple society Of
hand press, which will not shy at the ca
and was never known to kick its hind /
through the ashboard.-Estelline Da
Bell